Wearable computing goes to the dogs
穿戴式電腦產品應用在狗狗身上

A dog wears a “Petfit tag” equipped with 3G and Bluetooth from Japan’s largest mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo in Tokyo, Japan on Feb. 13.一隻狗兒二月十三日在日本東京，穿戴日本最大行動電話公司「都科摩」推出的3G與藍芽功能Petfit tag。

Photo: AFP照片：法新社

The wearable computing craze went to the dogs with startup Whistle introducing a smart pendant that tracks physical activity levels and sleep patterns in canines.

“Whistle was inspired by my love of dogs,” co-founder and chief executive Ben Jacobs said as his pooch, Duke, darted about a dog park near the company’s office in San Francisco.

“We’re introducing a window into their lives; creating a way for owners and veterinarians to take a preventative approach to our pets’ health.”

Whistle devices attached to dog collars or harnesses use movement-sensing accelerometers to track activity and even how well a pet is sleeping, then relay the information wirelessly to smartphones or Wi-Fi hotspots.

An online database built in collaboration with researchers and veterinary groups allows individual dog activity patterns to be scrutinized for hints that something may be amiss.

“You see this desire to take good care of our pets, but no information,” Jacobs said, noting that dogs typically hide discomfort in an eagerness to please humans who have their devotion.

“We talked to veterinarians and found out there is no way to get that information other than to build the hardware.”